For Immediate Release
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation awards major grant to the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian.
$300,000 grant will enable the museum to launch a fellowship program linked to its prestigious exhibition program.
Santa Fe, NM: The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian a $300,000 grant to launch a program of fellowships for graduate and postgraduate students. The four-year program will provide opportunities for three fellows who have demonstrated an interest in the interpretation of the arts in a museum or similar setting. Each fellow will work closely with the museum’s curatorial staff and exhibition team in the development of major exhibitions for its main gallery. The resulting exhibitions will open in November of 2018, 2019, and 2020.
“This prestigious award is one of the biggest grants in the museum’s history,” said director Jonathan Batkin. “It will enable us to accomplish some of the most important goals in our new strategic plan, most notably a commitment to train young scholars in the presentation of Native American arts in a museum setting. We strongly encourage young Native American scholars to apply for these opportunities.”
The Wheelwright Museum, New Mexico’s oldest independent nonprofit museum, was founded in 1937. It recently completed the largest expansion in its history, which includes its first permanent exhibition gallery. The museum’s changing exhibition program, conducted in its original gallery, has been praised internationally for its originality and its emphasis on emerging artists and underappreciated art forms.
One Mellon Fellow will be selected annually from 2017 through 2019, and each will be immersed in the museum’s exhibition process. In conjunction with the launch of the fellowship program, the museum is announcing a new internship program, as well as an outreach program for Pueblo Indian communities in northern New Mexico.
Academic requirements and application information for the Mellon Fellowships and internships will be posted on the museum’s website at https://wheelwright.org/support/fellowships-and-internships/
Media Contact:
Neebin Southall, Public Relations and Web Coordinator, Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian
505-982-4636 ext. 126 | nsouthall@wheelwright.org
Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian
704 Camino Lejo, Santa Fe, NM 87505 | www.wheelwright.org
